Starting Weight: 298.2 pounds
Last Week’s Weight: 218.4 pounds
Today’s Weight: 215.2 pounds
Negative 3.2 pounds. Cool. Seven weeks to lose 15.4 pounds…
I’ve felt pretty poorly all week. Haven’t started the first “according to plan” week of Couch to 5k yet. Hopefully this weekend. How are you all doing with it?
/BG communicating in sentence fragments
That’s right. Week .5. I’m modifying the plan to suit my needs. Instead of jogging for 60 seconds, walking for 90, I’m jogging for 30 seconds, walking for 2 mins. Next week might be Week 1 or it might be Week .75, wherein I jog for 45 seconds, walk for 105. We’ll see :)
I walked at 3.3 miles per hour and jogged at 4.5 miles per hour. The pace seemed comfortable and I even went up to 4.7 MPH on the last jogging interval. I took heart when I wanted to jog for longer than 30 seconds, which happened a few times. I limited it, though. I need to ease into it!
How’s everyone else doing?
I look a lot worse than I felt.
These are my initial impressions, a mere 30 minutes after I gave up on my first day of Couch to 5k:
I know, it’s really pessimistic. But that first attempt was BAD, ya’ll. BAD. I’m fairly certain that I’m going to have to repeat week one. But, on the bright side, I managed to do four of eight running sessions before I thought I was going to keel over. That’s good, right? AND, I calibrated the distance tracker on my heart rate monitor before I started the C25k workout. So I was already a little fatigued. AND I was running at 4.4 miles per hour at one point AND I sustained the pace for a minute. Should probably slow that down, actually.
Really, I know it’s okay. I just don’t feel like it’s okay. Mainly because I kind of feel like I’m gong to be sick still.
Oh, and I forgot to actually tell my heart rate monitor I was starting, so I don’t have the data for this workout. I did see that my poor little heart was going at about 160 beats per minute at one point. Whatever that means :D
This is an excellent video showing proper running form. There’s no audio:
And here are some stretches to do after you run, even if you don’t run a marathon:
I’ve edited this a bit, but most of it was published at the end of February in this post.
It’s time to start prepping for the beginning of C25K! The most important thing you need to do is go to a running store and get fitted for shoes. Plan on spending $100ish on them. Expensive? Yes, but good shoes are KEY to helping prevent injuries. Even if you’re planning on making this a walking program and not a running program, you need to get fitted for shoes.
Really, guys, I’m not joking. This is the most important purchase you’re going to make when it comes to training gear. Go to a running store (if you’re in the Phoenix area, I recommend Runner’s Den, even if you have to drive a ways to get there). Do not go to a general sports store, go to a running specific store. Grab a knowledgeable employee. He or she will tell you to take off your shoes, roll up your cuffs, and walk. Then, the salesperson will recommend a few pairs of shoes to fit the needs of your feet. Try on at least three pairs and walk/jog around in them. Your running store gets bonus points if they let you go outside and try the shoes out on the concrete or asphalt. Your shoes should feel good immediately. You should have no pain or discomfort. Also, go in the afternoon, not the morning!
I’ll leave it at that, but this seems to be a good guide for shopping for running shoes. Please please please don’t skimp on this part.
If you can do so, buy special workout clothes. I’ve invested in compression shorts, wicking tee shirts, and a tank top intended for body shaping. I have a lot of jiggle and I’m hoping that the shorts and tee will help minimize that because it’s really distracting when you feel your boobs bouncing, the upper part of your tummy bouncing, and the lower part of your tummy bouncing. They never bounce in a synchronized fashion. You can read more about what I wear when I work out in my gym essentials post from May.
From what I’ve read, cotton is going to quickly become our enemy. Fashion experts will tell you to stick with clothes that are comprised of natural fibers. Unfortunately, fashion has no place on the running course. Make it easy on yourself and look for clothes that say “wicking.” Those are what we want to go with.
I found a wicking tee at Target for $10 in the men’s section by Champion. It’s a generously sized XXL and I like it so far, though I’ve not actually exercised in it yet. I’ve also found some XL compression shorts in the women’s section, also by Champion. Note that I go a size smaller than I’d normally wear for compression shorts. Like I said, I jiggle.
Ladies, you’re on your own for sports bras. I have a couple of Enells, but they’re pricy and hot. Additionally, I’ve lost about 25 pounds since I bought them…
The reason I buy workout clothes is to send a signal to myself. I’m out of bed or off the couch and ready to go to the gym. I don’t go anywhere else wearing spandex. They help my brain get ready for the workout to come. It’s also really uncomfortable to do any meaningful cardio in jeans.
A few days ago, a group of us on Twitter decided to start doing Couch to 5K (C25K) next week. Do you want to join us? Here are the details!
Couch to 5K is a nine week program designed to help people who aren’t runners become runners. The program was designed by Josh Clark and has helped numerous people get on the path to running–if you’re active in any sort of weight loss community, you’ve probably at least heard of it. The complete plan can be found on Cool Running’s C25K page; I’m just going to post one week at a time so we don’t get so overwhelmed!
Some details:
This is a chance for us to get up and get moving with the support of other people doing the same thing. There’s no prize at the end besides better cardiovascular health.
If you can’t or don’t want to run or jog, do different walking intensities. Sure, it would take you longer to do 5K than someone running, but that isn’t the point.
Cool Running has the plan laid out by both time and distance. The way you do it is really up to you, but I’m going to go by duration rather than distance because I’m going to train on a treadmill, where measuring 200 yards is difficult (200 yards is .11363636 miles, for the record).
If you don’t feel ready to move on to the next week, that’s okay. Just repeat the week you’re on until you think you can safely continue with the next part of the plan. I can almost promise you that I’m going to have to repeat at least one week one time!
That’s right. Easing into a running program will help prevent injury. If you want to exercise the other four days each week, do strength training or light cardio. Give your body a chance to recover and strengthen itself.
At least for me! I’m still planning on running a half marathon on February 27. I don’t know how I’ll get the money to go to Florida, but I’m going to do it.
I’m not a doctor or a trainer. Fact check and make sure I’m giving good information on here and let me know if I get something wrong. Ultimately, this is your responsibility!
I’m going to make some posts over the next few days about running gear, but really all you need is a good pair of shoes. See my next post for more information.
My weeks are going to go from Monday to Sunday–that way I have the weekend to make up for a missed day if I need to. I think it would be fun to post progress pics of some kind; maybe a pic of the treadmill console or your Nike+ screen or whatever when you’re done. You could send the pictures to me and I would post them once a week. I don’t know; just a thought :)
So, leave a comment and let us know if you’re going to join! I’ll post week one’s details here on Saturday or Sunday.
I’m writing my list of reasons I want to run a half marathon instead of writing a complete post. I need to do my own homework.
If you all don’t mind, though, I wanted to take a roll of people who are trying to do this with me. Disney Princess Half Marathon in a year. You in? Guys can do it, too! Don’t worry, you can back out if you want or need to.
If you’re following along but not planning on doing the Princess Half, leave a comment anyway!
Even if you’ve never commented before, please :) Don’t worry, nobody but the Boy and I can see your email address if you’re worried!
Comments closed due to the amount of spam I got on this post.
I’m trying hard not to use self-dispariging language like, “Wow Girl, you really suck.” But I feel kind of sucky.
I didn’t go to the gym on Thursday morning. The balls of my feet hurt horribly (because I was too lazy to put my orthotics into my new shoes) and I was just plain tired. So I told myself that I would be able to go Friday morning instead. It’s not a big deal and I’m trying to learn how to listen to my body. That, my friends, is a victory.
But late in the day on Thursday I got one of THOSE projects at work. You know, one of those “Hey, here’s this really important thing we need you to complete by 9:00 tomorrow morning” projects. So I worked until 12:30 Friday morning trying to get the thing done. No gym at 6:30 Friday morning!
I didn’t go yesterday. I didn’t go again today. I’m never going to run a half marathon if I don’t get started and I’m just frustrated with myself. I had good reason not to go on both Thursday and Friday, but yesterday and today? Unacceptable. I also haven’t been mindful of what I’m eating this weekend. Again, that’s unacceptable.
Having said that, tomorrow is the start of a new week. Are you guys ready to do this with me? Here’s the exercise plan:
My plan is to go for my 20 minute walks on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and my long walk on Saturday. Naturally, that’s open for change. (Like three hours after I initially posted. I’m going to try for Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday instead.)
I’ll ask questions about homework from previous posts later and post my answers. Our homework so far has been:
I also owe you guys a post about why cross-training is important! I’m working on it; I have a ton of tabs open in Safari but I haven’t compiled all of the information yet!
How are you all doing?
Today I walked 1.15 miles in 22 minutes, 49 seconds. Did you do your exercise today? How about your homework?
Tomorrow is another 20 minutes, then we’ll have a day of rest!
Who did their 20 minutes at the gym this morning? I did! I walked 1.15 miles in 22 minutes (including a brief cool down) on the treadmill.
Treadmill workouts are *much* harder for me to complete than elliptical workouts. I was sore for a bit after I showered and went to work this morning; that never happens after a bout on an elliptical.
Okay, time for tomorrow’s assignment! Remember your workout over the weekend? Figure out what half of that was; that’s what you need to do tomorrow, but try to go for at least 20 minutes.
So, since I spent 30 minutes at the gym on Sunday, I’ll do another 20 minutes tomorrow instead of 15 (half of my “long” Sunday workout). Does that make sense?
And there’s homework for us in addition to exercise! Think about what you’d like to do for cross training. Our cross training can be anything that doesn’t stress our running muscles. Think swimming, strength training, and cycling. I’ll try to write a post about the importance of doing exercise besides walking/running in the next day or two.